What's the deal with Annie and pirates?

When my boss gave me some good news the other day, I responded "Huzzah!" which prompted him to ask, "What's the deal with you and pirates, anyway?"

It's a fair enough question, but I had to think about it for a minute.

I guess it started when I fell in love with swashbuckling movies. My interest was piqued when I saw Hook, but I fell HARD for the 1993 movie The Three Musketeers. Even today, it's one of my favorite movies. The costumes (the puffy shirts!), the romance, the adventure - it was fun and romantic and basically tapped directly into my adolescent brain's happy place. I had a copy of the movie poster on my wall for years.

And the first time I went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival when I was 14, well...it felt like home. I saw it as a magical place where it was OK, even encouraged, to be an adult wearing a costume and "playing pretend." I felt like I'd found my people, in a way, though I've been content to be a spectator who enjoys wearing garb, rather than plays a direct role, when I've gone each year.

Shortly after we moved here, Piratz Tavern opened and again, I got that "MY PEOPLE!" feeling. A place from another time with fantastic entertainers in awesome garb who really care about what they do. It's a wonderful escape and I feel like I fit in there - and best of all, I can go there year 'round, as opposed to once a year like the Renaissance Festival! I recently got myself some pirate garb - which I guess is my way of owning a piece of the magic.

But honestly, a lot of it boils down to this:

Puffy shirts, bodices, and accents are hot.

And that's all I have to say on the subject.

Huzzah!